Measure for Measure
Kerstin, Cassandra, Claudia, Brian
Group Project
Eng. 318
Prof. Silva
Ways to Understand Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure
For hundreds of years, people have been reading Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure (1604). They have spent innumerable hours debating its themes, its genre, and its meaning. When it was written sometime in or before 1604 and performed that year, audiences could relate the themes, such as justice and morality that were prevalent throughout the play, to some of their own popular culture of that time – most notably George Whetstone’s Promos and Cassandra (2013). Now when people read, perform, or see Measure for Measure being performed, drawing relations to their own popular culture is difficult due to the linguistic and cultural barrier that separates Shakespeare in 1604 to today’s modern day audience. Using the juxtaposition of symbolic moments in Measure for Measure and parts of modern day pop culture that can be seen in movies, pictures, and television shows, this edition of Measure for Measure attempts to breakdown those barriers to facilitate a better understanding of Shakespeare.
The play itself is rife with many themes and tropes. In the beginning of the play, the Duke of Vienna appoints Lord Angelo to take leadership. Afterwards, the Duke pretends to be a friar to fool everyone into thinking he had gone on a trip outside of Vienna. Shakespeare often uses disguise and deception in his plays. Sometimes they are necessary for the character’s survival. In this case disguise is used in the form of espionage. Throughout the play the Duke converses with other characters while disguised to find out what they think about the current state of affairs in Denmark, and what people think about him. In the end, he reveals his disguise and judges people for how they have acted in his absence. However, Measure for Measure’s plot is not driven by the Duke’s character. It is essentially about Claudio getting arrested and sentenced to death by Lord Angelo for fornicating and impregnating his girlfriend Juliet. In response, Claudio’s Sister, Isabella, who is about to become a nun, asks Angelo for mercy to which he replies that he will only grant mercy if Isabella will sleep with him. Three additional themes crystallize in this scene alone. First, Shakespeare points out the hypocrisy of double standards of his time. There are one set of rules for the aristocracy and another set of rules for everyone else. Second, the theme of morality is explored here. If Isabella sleeps with Angelo the latter will grant her wish to spare Claudio. Third, misogyny is illustrated through the degrading of women and using them for as sexual objects. This is especially apparent with Angelo’s proposal when he disregards her status as a nun in training to pose his ultimatum. Although he is aware of position, he completely disregards her spirituality on the basis that she is a woman who could sexually satisfy him. The four themes, espionage, hypocrisy of law, morality, and misogyny have survived hundreds of years and can still be found in contemporary stories today.
Our edition focuses on contemporary movies, TV-shows, and digital illustrations. Our sources of movies and TV-shows shows are no older than twenty-five years. We believe that a greater understanding for Measure for Measure can be achieved by relating themes to modern pop culture references to excerpts from the play. That is simply because Measure for Measure is a dated and convoluted play - often called a problem play. For the modern reader, his concepts might be hard to grasp; therefore, essential themes may not be easily detected. This is partly due to dated language that Shakespeare uses, as well as the unique structures that form each of his plays. For example, Shakespeare illustrates people’s opinions of women of lower economic status negatively in his plays, but he fails to explain how women are forced into their situations. Therefore, we may assume that the theme is poverty when in actuality the underlying theme is the threat of a socially mobile society. A film or TV-show that uses a language we can relate to more, will then give insight into the woman’s historical societal roles. It will explain why the woman is poor or why the woman has to be a prostitute. In other words, when creating a link between the film and the play, it becomes easier to understand the character’s behavior. This leads to a newer - fresher - perspective, even though the stories are different and hundreds of years apart.
Our references are not based on Shakespeare’s characters or direct adaptations of the plays. We decided to focus on theme-based examples. That is, we chose contemporary stories that share central themes with Measure for Measure.
In Act one, Cassandra uses themes relevant to the play by connecting them to movies and television shows. For example, she expresses the connection of religiosity to the notion of being pure. This is seen in connection to Isabella, as Lucio goes to ask her for help when her brother Claudio is sentenced to death. This shows that nuns held an important status.
In Act 2, Claudia explores how themes of justice and religion that are prevalent in Measure for Measure also appear in modern day movies and television shows. Her work shows that although the theme of the play does not change, the reception of these themes from the audience may or may not change over time. For example, the theme of religious judgment that is present in Measure for Measure and the pop culture reference Footloose would be easier to swallow for a person in 1604, than a person in 2016.
In Act three, Kerstin connects the essential themes to contemporary movies and TV-Shows as well as illustrations and paintings. Her work demonstrates that the loss of a woman's virtue is as much subject to criticism today as it was during the seventeenth century. For example, she connects implications of Isabella’s possible loss of chastity to the movie Easy A, which shows how a young woman is being treated after the loss of her virginity has been made public.
In Act Five, Brian uses movies, television shows, and illustrations, to show important themes in the play. For example, Brian shows that although marriage can be a great thing, a forced marriage can be viewed as a form of punishment. For instance, in Game of Thrones arranged marriages can be considered a form of punishment – if it is against someone’s will. Similarly, it could be argued that Isabella was not pleased with her marriage to the Duke.
Our target audience is comprised of high school students, lay people that want to get their feet wet with Shakespeare and hopefully become lovers of Shakespeare, and of course everyone that is already a Shakespeare lover and wants to see the relations that people draw from popular culture to Measure for Measure. We feel that, for students and lay people, reading Shakespeare’s plays can be both jarring and boring at times because when reading difficult and sometimes convoluted texts, the mind begins to wander, thus losing focus and interest. That is why creating modern, interesting and meaningful references might help kindle an interest in Shakespeare, while making his material more relatable. It will also be used as a mechanism for understanding the play from a modern perspective. In that way, anyone – from an avid Shakespeare lover, to a scholar, or a beginner – can enjoy our references.
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References
Araki, Tetsuro, dir. "Death Note/Rebirth." Death Note. Nippon Television Network. Japan, 3
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Berlanti, Greg, and Andrew Kreisberg. "The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive." The Flash. The CW.
Canada, 14 Oct. 2014. Television.
"Chapter 2." House of Cards. Narr. Kevin Spacey. Netflix. 1 Feb. 2013. Stream.
Davis, Jeff, and Edward A. Bernero. "Criminal Minds: The Popular Kids." Criminal Minds.
CBS. Los Angeles, CA, 30 Nov. 2005. Television.
“Deadlock”. Battlestar Galactica. Dir. Michael Nankin. David Eick Productions R&D
TV. 2010. DVD.
Dramatic Aside, Monologue and Soliloquy in Film. Dir. 033141tb. YouTube. YouTube, 17 May
2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2016
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Feb. 2011. Television.
Easy A. Dir. Will Gluck. Screen Gems, Olive Bridge Entertainment. 2010. Film.
Fast Five. Dir. Justin Lin. Perf. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. Universal Pictures. 2011. Film.
Footloose. Dir. Herbert Ross. By Dean Pitchford. Perf. Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow,
and Dianne Wiest. Paramount Pictures, 1984. DVD.
Giraffe Demonstrates stages of Grief/Response to Change. RedShoeInstitute.
YouTube. YouTube, 2014. Web. 26 Nov. 2016.
Hancock. Dir. Peter Berg. Perf. Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron. Columbia
Pictures. 2008. Film.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Dir. Chris Columbus. Prod. David Heyman. By
Steven Kloves. Perf. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Richard Harris. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2002. DVD.
Indecent Proposal. Dir. Adrian Lyne. Prod. Sherry Lansing. By Amy Holden Jones. Perf. Robert
Redford, Demi Moore, and Woody Harrelson. Paramount Pictures, 1993. DVD.
Maleficent. Dir. Robert Stromberg. Perf. Angelina Jolie. Abbey Road Studios, 2014. Film. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
Mean Girls. Dir. Mark Waters. Perf. Lindsey Lohan. Paramount, 2004. Film. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
Mrs. Doubtfire. Dir. Chris Columbus-Marsha Williams-Robin Williams-Mark Radcliffe-Randi
Singer Twentieth Century Fox - 1993
Mulan. Dir. Barry Cook, Tony Bancroft. Perf. Ming-Na Wen and Eddie Murphy. Buena Vista
Pictures. 1998. Animation.
Murder in the First. Dir. Marc Rocco. By Dan Gordon. Perf. Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon, and
Gary Oldman. Warner Bros., 1995. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
Norwalk, Peter. "How to Get Away With Murder/It's All Her Fault." How to Get Away With
Murder. ABC Studios. Los Angeles, CA, 2 Oct. 2014. Television.
No Strings Attached. Dir. Ivan Reitman. Perf. Natalie Portman and Aston Kutcher. Paramount,
2011. Film. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
"Paleoplan." N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2016.
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Dir. Chris Columbus. Perf. Logan Lerman. 20 Century
Fox, 2010. Film. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
Pretty Woman. Dir. Garry Marshall. Perf. Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, and Ralph Bellamy.
Buena Vista Distribution Co., 1990. DVD
Princess Diaries. Dir. Garry Marshall. Perf. Anne Hathaway. Walt Disney Company, 2001.
Television. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? CBS. 1969. Television.
Season of the Witch. Dir. Dominic Sena and Brett Ratner. Perf. Nicolas Cage. Viva Video, 2011.
Film. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
Tangled. Bryan Howard, Nathan Greno, 2010. film.
The Backup Plan. Dir. Alan Poul. Perf. Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin. 2010. Film. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
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“The Captains Hand”. Battlestar Galactica. Dir. Sergio Mimica-Gezzan. David Eick Productions
R&D TV. 2007. DVD.
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Pictures. 2002. Film.
The Lion King. Dir. Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. By Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, Linda Woolverton, Tim Rice, Elton John, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, and Jeremy
Irons. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc., 1994. Film. Web. 21 Oct 2016
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood.
Entertainment in Video, 2004. DVD.
The Mask. Dir. Chuck Russel. Dark Horse Entertainment. 1994. Film.
“Someone to Watch Over Me”. Battlestar Galactica. Dir. Michael Nankin. David Eick
Productions R&D TV. 2010. DVD.
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Wells, Stanley. "Measure for Measure." N.p.: Oxford UP, 2013. N. pag. Print.
300. Dir. Zachary E. Snyder. Perf. Gerard Butler and Lena Headey. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., 2007. DVD.
